‘Fuller House’ Stopped Asking Olsen Twins to Return as Michelle

Netflix’s Fuller House returned somewhat quietly over the weekend, especially as Season 3 marked the original Full House’s 30th anniversary. The series is known for celebrating its sitcom past, but if thirty years couldn’t attract either Olsen back to their humble beginnings, producers confirm they’ve given up Michelle’s ghost.

Where prior seasons made tongue-in-cheek reference to Michelle Tanner running a fashion empire in New York (not-so-veiled reference to Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen having transitioned careers), the inaugural half of Season 3 was notably devoid of references to D.J. and Stephanie’s younger sibling. That’s no accident, as franchise creator Jeff Franklin told TVLine they’d given up the idea of joking around an actual appearance:

Personally, I’ve given up asking them. The door is open, but I’m not going to be calling them anymore to invite them. They just don’t seem interested in coming. It’s been three years of invitations, so they know the door is open. It’s up to them to decide if they want to come play or not.

The initial episode of Netflix’s revival made ostentatious the twins’ disinterest in rejoining their sitcom family, while Season 2 similarly saw star-producer John Stamos imploring their return. At one point, Stamos even suggested they’d approached siblingElizabeth Olsen to take over the role, though Franklin subsequently downplayed his seriousness.

The extended run of Fuller House Season 3 means new episodes will return sooner in 2018, but how long should the series run without making full rounds of its familiar characters?